Improvement in the manufacture of gun-cotton and lint



J. 1.M0LBAN- i MANUFAGTURB 0F GUN COTTON AND LINT.

No. 47,316. PafentedAp, 18,V v1865.;`

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES P. MCLEAN, orv BROOKLYMNEWYORK.

IMPROVEMENT |N THE MANUFACTURE Volf GUN-COTTON AND .I INTl y Specification forming part ofLettcrs Patent No. 4 7,316, dated April 18, 1865.

. To all vwhom it may concern Be it known that l, JAMEs l. MCLEAN, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have made a new and useful discovery in the manufacture of a new article of gun'cotton and lint for hospital and other uses; and "I `'hereby-dc-l ',state that `the. .Asclepiaa Syriana'. commonly..

called silk-weed or l milk-weed,7 is theplant `trom which I procure the bers N N, Figures 11 Iand 2, for the manufacture of gun-cotton or `lint for dressing wounds, sores, and for -other uses. The constituent parts of the ber asclepies are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.- I believe those to be the very best materials for making gun-cotton, which may be made in the following manner, to wit: Mix in a glass ves- Aselone and a half rluid ounce of nitric acid (specific gravity 1.45) with an equal bulk of sulphuric acid, and when the mixture is quitecold pour it upon one hundred grains, of the ber, which must be Well broken up by earding, and placed ina Wedgewood mortar. Imbue the ber` with the acids as soon as possible by means of a glass rod, and when it (the ber) is thoroughly satura-ted pour 0E the superaban- -dantliquid from the ber, and, by means of the .pestle or otherwise, press out all the liquid, if possible; 4then place the ber into a glass vessel of pure soft water and thoroughly wash lit until the 'acid taste is entirely removed; then 'dry `it with a gentle heat.v v

' The above is the common mode of making g'uncotton for blasting and other common uses, but for hospital or surgical purposes the following ispreferable: You rst break up the asclepas ber N N by means of carding, then steep it in a' mixture of niter and sulphuric acid, which eifects the necessary change in the ber, and thus producing a ber that will readily dissolve in sulphuric ether; hence' a better article of collodion or ethereal solution of asclepias gun-ber, in lieu of gun-cotton, is produced for the use of the surgeon and hospital. j j

In order to prepare theber asclepias or milk-weed for lint, it shonldbe. picked from the pods as late in the fall as possible, in order that it may obtain its full growth, and

also that a portion of the latent oil may bleach out byexposure to the weather, thereby renderingthe ber more `absorbent when applied to fresh cuts. The bers N` N are first` taken carefully .from the follicleor pod lI), Figs. 1 and 2, by the'hands, which `shouldbe dampened so that all the bers maybe carefully collected and rolled in the hands i'nto a ball 'similar to a cotton ball, thereby compressing the-bers and liberating all the seed F F, which Aare entirely; removed during theprocess of rolling.

In case it becomes requisite to make the lint into a woven fabric preparatory to using it for hospital purposes, I, would respectfully;

suggest that the ber have the seeds carefully rolled out by hand and not by ginning, then oil the ber with a strong vegetable oil,

,(I prefer castor `oil,) thereby softening the bers Vand rendering them more= adhesive Vto each other,;sbfthatljthey may be drawn out "with as much' ease as upland cotton or short wool. I believe the above is thel only successful means by whichasclepias bers N 'N can be carded and spun into yarn. A small proportion of long bered-cotton might be used to advantage-say, ten parts of cotton to ninety parts of asclepias bers. This yarn should be woven intoa thick web, (twil1ed,) so that p the lint may be easilyraised by means of cards or teas'els, Aand it will be :necessary to extract theyegetable or latent oil from the ber in order to make it more absorbent for fresh wounds before using it. This may Abe donc by boiling it in a solution of carbonate of soda, strongsoap, or .by steeping it in spirits of ammonia, or by any other well-known chemical process employed for such purposes. l

After the oil has been removed froin'the ber it (the ber) must be thoroughly washed and dried in the open air, then carded, and packed for use.

When the ber is used without being woven, it should be thoroughly washed, dried, carded, and packed in boxes in layers. Ghlorine or sulphur may be successfully used for bleach ing the'ber, if necessary. The oil must be extractedaml the ber well Washed in soapsuds preparatory to bleaching.

The superiority of the asclepias or milkweed ber as a lint, for the use of the snrgeon and hospital, over that which is prepared from old rags, and noviT in common use, is, first, the plant is a Well-known healing medium, as the root has frequently been iu- :tr'od'uced as a healing vagent by surgeons of high standing in eases of scrofula, and on account of its anodyne properties it has been used for asthma. (See United States Dispensatory, page 125.) Poultices have been made from vthe stalks and leaves for sores, with great success. Therefore I believe the ber or .silky down contained within the follicle' or pod to be better adapted for lint than any other material,as it is free from any adulteration of'` Wool, lime,.&c., such as may be found in the-lint now in use. -I have furnished many of the medical gentlemen of the Academy of Medicinev in the city of New York with samples of .lint prepared by-my- -self from the ber Asclepias Syriana, and they fully concur that it is novel and useful for guuc-ottou, collodion,` and. lint, as applied for hospital and other purposes. Finally, fromvthe manner in which it receives the most delicate colors, such as employed for coloring Silks, I am fully convincerlof the greatutility of the ber N 'N as a lint, as well as for other uses. '.Iherefore,

What I claim as novel and useful, and. what I wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States of America, is- Y The introduction and use ofthe asclepias or milk-Weed bers N N Figs. 1 and 2, for the manufacture of a new article ot'sgun-cottonalso for lint-either from the vfiber itselt or from the fabric, or yarn made of the ber, as above set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name in the presence of two witnesses.`

i JAMESP. MCLEAN. Witnesses: WrLLIAM MAoIEY. ANDREW MACKEY. 

